User Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by Proteus93:

3.8/5 rDev +1.9%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: Crisp and golden hued... certainly an appropriate 'harvest color.' Stark white head doesn't stick around for long, but it seems to have found some nucleation points on the glass to allow a steady stream of tiny bubbles to keep things interesting.

S + T: Nutmeg and sweet malts are the first aromas to reach my nose, not carrying as much of the 'pumpkin pie spices' explosion that I sometimes feel come from these beers. The flavor brings out more pumpkin notes, and while perhaps a little sweet for my tastes, the balance between the pumpkin and spicing is appropriate.

M + D: Medium bodied, a little bit of weight that clings to the tongue. Alcohol is modest, adding just a little note of added spiciness and a touch of warmth as it goes down. The beer is not 'fake' tasting--an issue I find coming up with many pumpkin brews. The only thing that might hold me back from returning to it would be the price point. In a market where some of the competition will sell six-packs (@ $8.99, 72 oz. = ~12 cents per oz vs. 22 oz / ~41 cents per oz.) , I don't know if it stands out enough for the added cost. Price notwithstanding, this is a decent, quality brew.

More User Reviews:

A: The beer is slightly hazy yellowish orange in color and has a moderate amount of carbonation. It poured with a finger high beige head that settled down but never completely faded away.
S: The beer smells just like pumpkin pie and has some notes of alcohol.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell, except that the flavor of alcohol isn’t as strong—although some hints of it are still noticeable. There are also some notes of sweetness.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate to high amount of carbonation. There is a bit of warming from the alcohol in the finish.
O: This beer has a good amount of flavors of pumpkins and spices and is relatively easy to drink because it isn’t that sweet and the alcohol is well masked from the taste.

A- Dark, coppery, orange in color. It looks fairly filtered on the initial pour, but their actually is some sediment at the bottom of the bottle. There are some bubbles streaming up, but it's not overly carbonated. There's a one finger, soapy, kind of head. Some lacing/alcohol legs are present.

S- This beer smells malty and sweet. Malts are like brown bread and the sweetness is kind of like brown sugar and molasses in a way. You get a bit of the phenol alcohol note. The nutmeg and cinnamon note is detectable right away. There is the graham cracker crust element as well. It has a spicy, earthy, British component in the hops. It might have a slight touch of pine.

*- As the beer warms, you get more of the graham cracker and alcohol notes. I get a slight appley note.

T- The 9% is there in the taste, but it doesn't burn at all. It's warming. You notice the alcohol in the initial taste and towards the finish. But the flavors I get are typical pumpkin pie filling and graham cracker crust. Cinnamon and nutmeg show up first. Then I get the graham cracker and the brown bread notes from the malts. It dries after a couple of seconds. At 26 IBUs, the beer has a light, earthy, bitterness. I may even be getting a light leathery, tobacco, pine note. It tastes like a British kind of hop note. The taste overall is sweet and malt forward.

*- Warmer, the 9% seems to be a bit more pronounced. A pale, caramel, maltiness was detectable at this point.

M- This a light-medium bodied beer. It has a little bit of slickness and oiliness. It's not overly crisp. There is nothing off-puting in the finish. For a higher alcohol/imperial style beer, this actually has a decent drinkability.

*The beer thins out in the mouthfeel when warmer. It's a little more drinkable warmer.

Overall, this is a great imperial pumpkin style ale. It's overall a sweet, slick, lightly boozy beer. It's got more character than the Pumpkinhead for sure. I tend to prefer imperial pumpkin ales for that reason. I like to look outside the box when it comes to pumpkin ales. It seems every fall the light, American style lager drinkers gravitate towards the pumpkin beers, but they never really look outside of Pumpkinhead or a Traveler's pumpkin shandy. I think imperial beer fans, stout fans, and even whiskey/bourbon fans would like this beer. CHEERS!

A: Pours a very slightly hazy copper to reddish brown in color with some light to moderate amounts of visible carbonation. The beer has a two finger tall creamy beige head that slowly reduces to a small patch of large bubbles, a thin film covering the entire surface of the beer, and a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice) with some light hints of sweetness. Also, there is a very light presence of alcohol in the smell.

T: There are some light notes of sweetness upfront in this beer (almost like a cream soda sweetness). There are moderate flavors of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and vanilla.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Light amounts of alcohol warming in the finish.

O: Enjoyable with very good pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices which are in good balance with one another. Easy to drink because the beer is not overly sweet and the alcohol is pretty well hidden in the taste - though at 9% ABV this is very much a sipping beer.

drinking this now
copper orange appearance
not much head at all
smells great pumpkin cinnamon and ginger and strong alcohol
taste is same pumpkin cinnamon and ginger
leaves bit of a bitter taste and alcohol aftertaste
overall solid pumpkin seasonal
compared to southern tier pumking which i had recently not as much of a "bite of pumpkin pie in a sip" but still a solid pumpkin seasonal
would drink again but i think i am done with pumpkin beers for this year

Pours into an impy nonic a lighter copper color with an orange hue,a thin quick to fade head atop.Strong cinnamon and nutmeg in the nose along with sweet alcohol,very strong spice.Nutmeg is way to strong flavor-wise to go along with almost hot cinnamon spice in the finish to go along with sweet alcohol.To much spice and alcohol for me to really enjoy,I'll take the Smashed Blueberry but not this.

It was poured from a bomber into a pint glass
The Appearance was a deep burnt orange
The Smell was of pumpkin spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, a little like a spiced wafer or pumpkin spice should smell, which is good for a pumpkin ale.
The taste was sweet, not to sweet or over powering like some pumpkin ales can get. It was a pretty good balance of spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, but a little aftertaste of alcohol with the 9% abv. usually it mixes well but there is a trace of it.
The mouthfeel has a good mic of carbonation and seems a bit medium bodied. So the drinkability is a good but can be bad at 9%! It goes down easy, try sipping it though or you will go threw these quickly since I feel it is a medium bodied and easy drinking.

I had an imperial pumpkin last fall at Cambridge Brewing Company, and really enjoyed it. This beer doesn't come close. In a snifter the beer was a copper color with a tiny off-white head. Mostly spice aroma, maybe a little pumpkin. The taste was all nutmeg, some cinnamon, and no pumpkin. It was a bit on the hot side. The alcohol got in the way of this beer, and it was far too spicy with not enough pumpkin.

22 oz bottle. Pours clear yellow orange with a smallish white head that quickly goes to a thin collar.

The aroma is sweet malt and a lot of spices (cinnamon and allspice) - more spicy than just pumpkin pie.

The flavor is a little sweet malt with a huge amount of spice (a ton of cinnamon that makes it kind of spicy and tastes a bit like peppermint) and some odd medicinal bitterness in the finish. Unfortunately it tastes a bit like cinnamon gum or even mouthwash. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with low carbonation.

Overall, this is strange. It tastes more like a spicy cinnamon beer than a pumpkin beer - trending toward mouthwash.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown bomber (1pint 6oz) bottle into a tulip glass. The label has a good description of the beer on the back which includes its ABV at 9% and OG at 1.088. There is no freshness or born on date however.

Appearance: It has a deep amber body with good clarity. It also has a nice level of visible carbonation which supports a good creamy off white head. This head has good retention and makes for lots of lovely slick lacing on the glass.

Smell: The aroma has loads cinnamon and other pumpkin pie spices over a delicate squash and malt mixture.

Taste/Palate: There is a nice mixture of pie spice like cinnamon, ginger, and a touch of clove up front and throughout. There is also a good squash-like (pumpkin) flavor note with pie crust like malt. As it warms the cinnamon and spice come out a bit more. Its 9% ABV is also noticeable and adds another level of complexity and warmth. The body has a solid medium to full body with pleasant lively texture. The carbonation helps to keep thing from getting sticky or cloying as there is a good level of sweetness. Hops are barely noticeable but do offer just a touch of leafy/herbal bitterness towards the finish.

Notes: This is a very well done Pumpkin beer with wonderful complexity, decent balance and texture. This is much better then there other pumpkin beer by far, in fact this one is going high up on my favorite list.

Clear orange amber hue, lacing a great ... sticks all the way down. Smells of pumpkin pie with some alcohol drizzled on it, very pleasing as that is what I was hoping for. Pumpkin pie in a bottle, not over spiced and all the spices are there rather than one being too much forward. Sweetness up front, toasted malt in the back. Alcohol is mellow and compliments / warms. Modest hopping ends up just helping to balance. Spicy finish that stays a tad sweet.

More proof that pumpkin ales need to be massive, or at least that is what I prefer. Good drinking for the holiday or I would even think it is possible to cellar a bottle and perhaps cook with it as well.